Windows 8 is polarising among long-time Windows users. But there’s one, inescapable thing about it: it’s coming, and hardware manufacturers are preparing with machines that you’re going to want to touch.
Giz AU note: We’ll let you know of Australian availability as soon as we can.
Toshiba has a bunch of machines coming out for back-to-school season in the north, but the one you probably want to pay attention to is the 23-inch all-in-one LX835, which has a five-point capitative touchscreen. Microsoft is requiring the five-point capabilities for Windows 8 — the other all-in-ones shipping now use less accurate optical touch technology.
Specs-wise, it’s got third-generation (Ivy Bridge) Intel Core processors, up to 16GB of RAM, 3TB of storage and two USB 3.0 ports. That’s about what you’d expect from an all-in-one coming out later this year. The design is standard for an all-in-one — neither breathtaking nor garish — but the 1080p resolution is a bit of a concern. The pixels were clearly visible, large and noticeable. That’s not the biggest deal in the world, but when you’re going up against iMacs with pristine displays, it’s kind of worrying. It was running Windows 8 Consumer preview, and the touch response was very good. All five points registered with good response times. The screen felt like it would hold up to everyday use, so you wouldn’t be afraid to use the touch functions of your screen for fear of smudging the crap out of it. This is what you want using Windows 8 to feel like.
Not that it would really matter too much if it got scuffed up, though — the smudges might go a ways to blurring out the pixelation. The LX835 starts at $US900 and will available in Q3 2012.
